In a project instigated by the CIfA Finds Group and funded by Historic England, CIfA commissioned Alice Cattermole Heritage Consultancy to undertake a review of the standard of artefact reporting in England.
The project involved the analysis of a sample of 1000 unpublished specialist artefact reports and 61 published specialist artefact reports from journal articles against a checklist of criteria devised to assess their content and quality. The report showed that
- None of the reports in the sample met all the quality criteria
- Only 12% met three-quarters or more of the criteria
- 44% met fewer than half, and of those
- 6% met fewer than a quarter of the criteria
The report makes a series of recommendations to improve the quality of artefact reporting. Please click to read the full Press release
